Necktie holder



July 8, 1969 J. K. MATES 3,453,696

I NBCKTIE HOLDER Filed Aug. 23, 1967 FIG. 2

INVENTOR JACK 'KEES BY m, s, Ma 1L&/.(

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,453,696 NECKTIE HOLDER Jack K. Mates, Scarstlale, N.Y., assiguor to American Velcro, Inc., Manchester, NH, a corporation of New Hampshire Filed Aug. 23, 1967, Ser. No. 662,666 Int. Cl. A47j 51/24 U.S. CI. 2449 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A necktie holder is provided for a four-in-hand necktie which is entirely hidden from view behind the wide end of the necktie when worn. The holder includes a mechanical fastening device for holding the narrow end of the necktie to the shirt which has an outer portion positioned outside the narrow end of the tie on which first releasable fastening means are provided; second releasable fastening means are provided on the back side of the wide end of the necktie. The fastening means are of the hook and loop type which engage when placed in surface-to-surface contact and are separable by peeling.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to a necktie holder for releasably securing a four-in-hand necktie to a shirt which is hidden from view behind a wide end of the necktie.

Description of the prior art Many devices have been created to secure the loose ends of a four-in-hand necktie. The more well-known devices include conventional tie clasps and tie tacks. However, these devices are necessarily visible when worn, and tie tacks inherently must pierce the wide end of the necktie and therefore tend to mar a visible portion of the necktie after repeated use.

Moreover, many people desire the neat apearance of a secured necktie but prefer a device which is not visible when worn. The most elementary of such devices is a loop which is permanently secured to the inwardly facing surface of the wide end of the necktie and through which is passed the narrow end of the necktie after the knot has been fashioned. A necktie holder is still required with this device to hold the held ends to the shirt. It has further been known to provide buttonholes on the surface of the loop in order to secure the necktie to the shirt front or to provide clips integrally on the inwardly facing surface of the narrow end of the necktie for the same purpose.

In general, the prior art holders which are not visible when worn have two major drawbacks: they must be formed integrally with each necktie and thus increase the cost of the necktie while limiting the market for the particular article to those consumers who prefer a necktie holder which is not visible when worn; and, the combinations of loops and buttonholes or of loops and clips are extremely inconvenient and awkward in operation mainly because there are inherent limitations in adjustability of the necktie. This invention provides a necktie holder which is not visible when worn and may be used interchangeably with any neckties.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The necktie holder of the invention is for holding the depending wide and narrow ends of a four-in-hand necktie in place with respect to a shirt front when worn and one which is entirely hidden from view behind the wide end of the necktie. The holder is comprised of a mechanical fastening device having means for attachment to the shirt to hold the narrow end of the necktie and confining it in the device and to the shirt, and the device having an outer portion positioned at the front side of the narrow end of the necktie; a first releasable fastening means is provided on the outer portion of the device and a second releasable fastening means is attached to the back side of the wide end of the necktie. The first and second fastening means are comprised of hooking elements of the hook and loop type which are characterized by the property that placing a surface containing hooks into face-to-face contact with a surface containing loops a plurality of hooks engage a plurality of loops which resist separation parallel to the interfacial plane of engagement but are readily separable by peeling forces applied substantially normal to this plane.

The present invention utilizes hook and loop fasteners such as those described in U.S. Patents Nos. 2,717,427 and 3,009,225 which include separable members which comprise a sheet of woven fabric having raised threads of synthetic material wherein the loops of one tape member are cut at their outer extremities to form hooks while the loops of the others remain uncut. It is also contemplated that a given member may comprise both hooks and loops. When the two members of the fasteners are pressed together in face-to-face relationship there is substantial engagement of hook threads with loop threads. A considerable effort must be applied to separate the members unless they are peeled apart. In that event, the members may be separated quite easily.

The present necktie holder has the advantages of interchangeability with a number of different four-in-hand neckties and simplicity of operation. It may be employed as easily as the conventional clip type tie clasp and yet be invisible when worn. Furthermore, the present invention in no way interferes with the knotting of a four-inhand necktie and requires no special adjustment of the necktie as a requisite to operability.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a necktie holder of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective of a four-inhand necktie using the holder of the invention, and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a necktie and shirt with the necktie fastener of the present invention in the operative position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawing, a necktie holder 10 of the present invention is for use with a four-in-hand necktie 11 to be worn with a shirt in the conventional manner. The necktie 11 is of the usual construction, having a wide end 12 and a narrow end 13.

The necktie holder 10 shown comprises a spring clip 14 having a pair of arms 15, 16. The clip 14 may be made of metal, resilient plastic or other suitable material. The configuration of the clip 14 is a matter of design but two factors must be taken into account. First, the clip 14 should be capable of retaining the narrow end 13 of the necktie 11 and a shirt front between its arms 15, 16, and secondly the clip 14 should be small enough to be concealed behind the wide end 12 of the necktie 11 when being worn.

A first fastening means 17 is secured to an outwardly facing surface 18 of clip arm 16. The first fastening means 17 is a woven fabric tape having a surface defining a plurality of upstanding hooking elements 19 which are raised loop threads of synthetic material such as superpolyamide. The hooking elements may be cut at their outer extremities to form hooks as shown in the present embodiment or they may be closed loops.

A second fastening means 21 which also is a narrow strip of woven fabric tape is secured to the back side of the wide end 12 of the necktie 11 either permanently by stitching or the like or releasably by a suitable adhesive which will not damage the material of the necktie; the tape 21 is preferably positioned to extend longitudinally with respect to the necktie as shown. A surface of the sec: ond fastening means 21 defines a plurality of upstanding complementary hooking elements 22 which also are raised loop threads of synthetic material such as superpolyamide. The complementary hooking elements 22 may be closed loops as shown in the present embodiment or they may be cut at their outer extremities to form hooks. While hook type hooking elements 19 have been provided on the first fastening means 17 and loop type hooking elements 22 have been provided on the second fastening means 21, it is intended that they may be interchanged and thus hooks provided on the second fastening means 21 and loops provided on the first fastening means 17. In fact, it is contemplated that a given surface could comprise both hook type and loop type hooking elements.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the present necktie holder is utilized in the following manner. The necktie 11 is placed about a shirt collar and knotted as usual. Next, the narrow end 13 of the necktie 11 and a portion of the shirt front are releasably secured to each other between the arms 15, 16 of clip 14. Clip arm 16 is adjacent the narrow end 13 of the necktie 11 and surface 18 of clip arm 16 upon which is secured the first fastening means 17 faces outwardly from the wearer. The second fastening means 21 is then secured to the inwardly facing surface of the wide end 12 of the necktie 11 in registry with the first fastening means 17. Finally, the wide end 12 of the necktie 11 is releasably secured to the clip 14 by bringing the first fastening means 17 into faceto-face contact with the second fastening means 21. The Wide end 12 of the necktie 11 is maintained in position by the engagement of a large number of hooking elements 19 on the first fastening means 17 with a large number of complementary hooking elements 22 on the second fastening means 21. The elements 19, 22 so engaged, resist separation but may be separated readily by peeling forces applied substantially normal to the interfacial plane of engagement.

Once in place, the necktie fastener of the present invention is completely hidden by the wide end 12 of the necktie 11 and for this reason its metallic parts need not be constructed of or plated with precious metal. Furthermore, the entire device including the second fastening means 21 may be removed from a given necktie and reused many times. Usually, the second fastening means 21 will be left on the necktie and additional fastening means identical to the second fastening means 21 may be obtained for use with other neckties.

I claim:

1. A necktie holder for holding the depending wide and narrow ends of a four-in-hand necktie in place with respect to a shirt front when worn comprising a mechanical fastening device having means for attachment to the shirt .and holding the narrow end of the necktie and confining it in the device and to the shirt, the device having an outer portion positioned at the front side of the narrow end of the necktie; a first releasable fastening means provided on the outer portion; and a second releasable fastening means attached to the back side of the wide end of the necktie and extending substantially longitudinally with respect to the necktie, the entire holder being hidden from view behind the Wide end of the necktie; the first and second fastening means comprising hooking elements of the hook and loop type characterized by the property that placing a surface containing hooks into faceto-face contact with a surface containing loops, a plurality of hooks engage a plurality of loops which resist separation parallel to the interfacial plane of engagement but are readily separable by peeling courses applied substantially normal to this plane.

2. A necktie holder according to claim 1 wherein the second fastening means is a narrow longitudinal strip having hooks on its exposed surface.

3. A necktie holder according to claim 1 wherein said mechanical fastening device is a spring clip.

4. A necktie holder according to claim 1 wherein the holder is adhesively attached to the necktie.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,601,424 6/1952 Baker. 3,405,408 10/ 1968 Baker. 3,196,511 7/1965 Kintner 24 2o4 3,370,818 2/1968 Perl 24204 X FOREIGN PATENTS 513,799 6/1955 Canada. 919,275 2/1963 Great Britain. 1,110,416 12/1955 France.

934,282 10/1955 Germany.

DONALD A. GRIFFIN, Primary Examiner. 

